An Island In The Sea Of Humanity

Janelle Hill

Yesterday I used the MP3 player on my mobile phone. My technically advanced husband had downloaded some interviews from the radio onto my phone (who would have known that a phone could also play music and so forth from the internet!), and on my way to work on the train, I put in the earphones and voilá! It was quite an amazing experience. I felt a lovely sense of isolation from the hussle and bussle of the world. As I walked, I saw that many other people walked along with their headphones and ear-pieces in – little islands in the sea of humanity! It was quite pleasant to shut out the traffic noise but it made me think of how easy it is these days to become isolated and alone despite being surrounded by many people.

For me, being a Christian is about belonging. The youngest apostle John knew about this. He wrote in the Bible some words that Jesus spoke: ‘Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.’ (John 15:4-5)

Not many people use the word ‘abide’ any more. What did Jesus mean? His example of the vine and branches gives us some clues. We know that a branch that is cut off from the vine will die and cannot grow grapes or fruit. So it is with us. If we are cut off from God, we will die spiritually and will not be able to produce anything good or lasting.

It appears that John was struck by this idea of abiding. At another time in his life, John wrote ‘if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ God’s son cleanses us from all our sin.’ (1 John 1:7) Now we see that abiding with God, or being linked and joined to God, is more than knowing about God or even praying to God in times of need. Abiding is not passive. Abiding involves a living, real, ongoing relationship with God’s people (this is the meaning of fellowship) and with God Himself. As we are linked in this way, God’s actual life is able to come to us, just as the sap in a vine nourishes the branches. We find that we can live as Jesus lived, not because we are good people, but because God puts His life in us. We find that our sin is cleansed.

I want to finish with John’s words again as he shares his experiences of the life of God: ‘we write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it.” (1Jo 1:1)

Have you seen, touched, experienced the life of God? It is not far away, it is not mystical. God’s life can come to you as you learn to abide in Him.